Why do IDEs not have pause buttons built into them? - ide

I would guess this answer could be found somewhere, but I am struggling to communicate with Google tonight.
I simply was thinking, there is a play and stop, why not a pause button?
It would equally be nice when I need to utilize my computer for other processor intensive tasks.

Related

Is it possible to record screen with Titanium / Appcelerator?

We're in process of developing a desktop application which needs to record user's screen once he clicks a button. I read a tutorial about Adobe AIR, which says it is easy to do with AIR: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/flex/articles/air_screenrecording.html
But our preference is Titanium as we've explored it a little bit. So I want to know is that even possible? If yes, how can we get started with?
There's also an interesting solution which uses Java applet for recording, as demonstrated here: http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/create?step=info&sid=default&itype=choose
But again, we're not sure about JAVA and would like to know how can it be done? or if its even possible to run a JAVA applet in Titanium?
When you say "record screen", I'm assuming you mean video. Correct?
The only way to do this in Titanium Desktop right now is to take a bunch of screenshots and string them together (encoding would probably need to be done server-side).
Depending on how long your videos need to be, this probably won't work for you. I'm also not confident in how quickly you could capture screenshots, and if it would have a high enough frame rate to be usable.
Past that, a module could be developed for Desktop to support some native APIs to record video. That's not something I see on the horizon, though.
I hope this helps, albiet a rather dismal answer. -Dawson

Which IDE to use for ATMega32 micro controller coding

I am involved in a project which requires designing a mini rover (mars rover types). I am using ATMega32 micro controller. I have other hardware like DC motors, IR sensors etc. My query is that is there any IDE that I can use to code the micro controller? It must be user friendly since I am new to the concept of micro controller coding, and also it must have simulators. I did look it up on the net, but there are so many terms associated with it, that it confused me in the end. I think a simple IDE where I can write code, test it using simulator would be enough. Any suggestions?
I would try the Arduino's IDE: http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
It supports a lot of things such as building and debugging and interfacing with avrdude all from inside the IDE, so definitely a good one for embedded work, though I've never used it myself.
Also, while you are there, you may want to give the Wiring libraries a try. They are really nice for new people and are specifically for the ATMega32(I think).
There's no silver bullet.
Start here http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_v2.asp?family_id=607
Look for some videos on Youtube to learn.
Arduino is also a very good choice like Earlz wrote.
The best IDE to use would be ATMEL STUDIO 6. You can find it here http://www.atmel.com/microsite/atmel_studio6/. Also you would need a ICSP programmer to burn the .hex file into the Atmega32. Note: The ICSP programmer can also be use to program other atmega chips

Programmable stand alone Button (hardware+software)

I need to have a physical button that when pressed will be noticed by my program.
There are many types of usb-buttons that are preprogrammed to open a website, shutdown the computer and so on. And I have seen some projects using buttons and serial port.
But none of them "have it all", an easy description of how to put togheter the hardware, and an easy description of the code.
I really only need a button connected to the serial port that send some signal that the button has been pressed.
I know this question is a crossover between software and hardware, but when I googled this I have seen plenty more people asking this question, all of them left without answers.
Maybe this question fits stackoverflow?
EDIT: My solution
My application in this case was a que system and I wanted a button for people to print a que ticket.
I just took apart an old ps2-mouse and bought me a button (4$) and solded two wires from the circuit board to the button. Each mouse button has to dots on the back of the circuit board that we can connect an external button to.
Then in my program I just hooked the mousebutton-event systemwide to get when the button is pressed, in my case this computer is dedicated to this program so its not a problem.
Might be worth a look at Phidgets:
http://www.phidgets.com/index.php
They do many little USB I/O devices, and the code samples are there on the site too.
I would take a look at the Arduino microcontroller board - you can wire all sorts of things into that (buttons, sensors) and interface with it using the .NET Ports classes.
I'm looking for the same thing. this might do the trick:
http://awatts.co.uk/
Haven't tried it yet, but he has code to run a shell command or simulate a keypress and the source code is available if you need something different.
And for Linux: search freshmeat dot net for usb-panic-button-daemon project. (I'm a new user, and can't post more than one hyperlink!)
And another thing I just found is that Griffin makes an SDK available (at least they used to, I'm waiting for a reply) for their PowerMate knob to get it to simulate more than mostly just keypresses.
BTW I'm looking for USB buttons, but I could use serial too, come to think of it.

Api to turn on your computer

I'm Making a small on-line clock (both for fun and to learn a bit more of php and javascript) started it because i actualy need an alarm clock and this would be easier than buying one (don't ask)
Now i wanted to know one thing, i know it's impossible to turn on/off you're computer from a browser, but a friend asked me if i could do him a small addon/program that would fetch the alarm time he added there, and would turn his computer on so it would let if wake up
I know turning on must be pretty much impossible, but turning on from sleep/hibernate maybe?
Anyone knows any api to do this? Windows or mac, or cross platform.
Just for curiosity the alarm clock is here http://www.my-clock.net
Edit:
On the wiki page, wake-on-lan says it requires to turn the bios power to the network-board, is there any way arround this? Or are todays computers already ready for this kind of protocol?
There could be two solutions:
Use Wake-on-LAN as was suggested. But you must have another machine up on that LAN, it doesn't work over the Internet itself. So it goes like You -> [Internet] -> Waker -> Your friend.
You can set his RTC wakeup alarm over the Internet while his machine is still up and running. Then his computer will wake at the specified time.
Both would work even if the computer is completely powered-off.
Once a OS goes in hibernate/sleep the only way to bring it up is through some kind of kernel level hardware driver event. for example pressing power button or opening the lid of the system etc.
IMO it would be bit complex to model the functionality within an application, as application is dependent on OS level services, that are not available in sleep/hibernate mode.
I don't know a lot about how it works, but it sounds like you need Wake-on-LAN
Wake on LAN (WOL, sometimes WoL) is an Ethernet computer networking standard that allows a computer to be turned on or woken up remotely by a network message.
Your best bet may be Wake-on-LAN
As people have pointed out, Wake-On-Lan is one possibility. But there's another one that might suit your need. Most BIOS'es today already provide an option to turn your computer on at a given time. If your goal is simply to turn your computer into an alarm clock, this should do the trick.

How can you programmatically control a Casio Exilim EX-F1 digital camera?

I would like to be able to programmatically emulate a shutter button press on my Casio Exilim EX-F1 digital camera.
It comes with a USB tethered remote control that can emulate a shutter press, so I would think there is a way to emulate that from a PC.
I've looked and can't find any libraries or anything for controlling this camera.
Anybody have any ideas? How about a way to "sniff" the USB being sent from the remote (I can't imagine that's easy).
Ok although it might be out-of-the-box thinking the easiest solution I can think of, without having the patent documentation + technical specs in-front of me (that is the normal route people use to do this sort of thing) you could always use Lego Mindstorm robotics.
Edit: Anyways besides the Lego, which would be my course of action, I mentioned, the hard-core way is to use the Spec sheets, you can normally get them off the website, but then your basically into driver programming. If you find that prospect attractive in anyway this link will give you some ideas for doing it on Windows.
In case anyone finds this question, Casio finally released an official way to do this with the free EX-F1 Controller software (with special firmware included):
http://support.casio.com/download.php?rgn=5&cid=001&pid=573
It has its limitations but it makes more possible for sure.
There's a non-official API to control the Casio EX-F1. It's a reverse enginyering free (as in freedom) product.
http://code.google.com/p/exf1ctrl/